CAF CL wrap: Coulibaly boosts Al Ahly hopes

July 29, 2018 00:30

Salif Coulibaly's late header put Al Ahly on track to qualify for the next round of the CAF Champions League by earning a 1-0 victory against Township Rollers, with holder Wydad Casablanca also a winner on Sunday (AEST).

Getty Images

Last season's beaten finalist Al Ahly, the most successful team in the competition's history, took just four points from its first three Group A games.

Defeat away to Botswana side Township Rollers would have left Egyptian champion Al Ahly on the brink of an early exit, but Coulibaly came up trumps with a powerful 81st-minute winner from a corner.

Group leader ES Tunis secured qualification with a 1-0 win at Kampala City of Uganda, which had goalkeeper Charles Lukwago dismissed late in the game for bizarrely electing to roughly lift an injured player on to a stretcher.

ES Tunis hit a 41st-minute winner when Haythem Jouini got in behind and side-footed a classy finish into the top-right corner.

Wydad eased past Horoya 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Cheick Camara and Mohamed Ounajem, moving last season's champion three points clear at the top of Group C with two games remaining.

In the sole Group B game, leader TP Mazembe dropped points for the first time in this season's competition as it was pegged back in a 1-1 draw at MC Alger, which occupies second spot.